Building Brick Walls
by BOBO BOnsai
Summary: This follows the classical journey of Soujiro after the Juppongatana dismantled. His life was far from being normal as he meets new companions and realizes more about his stolen past.
1. A New Beginning

"Hush, little one!" the mother told her crying baby daughter. The woman struggled to keep her pace while ensuring steady breaths. This was particularly hard for her since she has cholera. But she was not alone: this type of disease was widespread during the To Ku Gawa Era. The baby she was carrying may also have inherited it. The baby, on the other hand, squealed wildly in her arms as she ran furiously from her predators – thugs who have invaded their village, ransacking their livelihood and killing-off anyone across their path. She and her six-month old baby only managed to escape in a lucky way.

The sound of hard footsteps, rustling with the grass, grew louder. The thugs were getting nearer.

"Pl… Please…" she said under her breath, sweat trickling down her forehead. She was running out of breath. "Not Saya… not Saya…"

The baby girl cried harder in her arms. The woman looked over her shoulder. She could almost see the lines of their faces from a distant. One was already raising his spear, targeting her. Her heart skipped more beats, and without warning, she tripped from a tree stump, her baby girl falling from her arms. The chase was over.

Panting, the woman pushed herself up and grabbed her baby in her arms, holding the beloved for the last time. She cowers under the security of the tree which tripped her. She caught a glimpse of the katana, which appeared silvery under the pale moonlight, before closing her eyes, doomed to die. The baby girl cried harder, not just because of the fall, but because of her mother's tightened caress. They waited for the final blow which would end their lives, until – they heard it: gunshot. A scream of three men.

When the woman opened her eyes, she saw the dead bodies of the thugs, blood was gushing from them. She looked up and saw two men approaching her direction. She recognized them. They were saved.

"Ayashi-_san_!" they called, hurrying forward, their guns dangling on their backs.

"Are you hurt?" the younger of the two asked. He was barely eighteen years old, with shirt dark hair and fair eyes. He was a very tall teenager.

"_Iie,_" Ayashi replied, grateful that they came. A great sense of warmth spread across her body. She rose from her cowered position. The young man helped her.

"_Arigato_," she said. Ayashi had bruises all over her. The two men could tell that the thugs chased Ayashi long enough to kill her from fatigue.

"How is everyone in the village?"

"Many died," the older of the two men said. He was a middle-aged man with balding white hair, and a partially-toothless grin. He was also very tall. This man was the younger one's father. "Two of your neighbors died. They were protecting their farms. The thugs took the chickens."

Ayashi's wide azure eyes fell on the weapons which accompanied the two men.

"Where did you get those?"

"From the thugs," the old man replied. "We have to go back to the village. It's safe now. They've gone. Some were driven away after hearing the gunshots. Five of them died. With those three – " he pointed at the corpses which lay in front of them " – eight are dead."

"Father, Ayashi-san, please. We have to go back to the village. They need us there."

Ayashi turned to leave when suddenly, she felt it – her strength gave up. He body fell to the ground with the baby still in her arms. She coughed wildly.

"Ayashi-_san_!" the two men cried, coming over to her. The young man took the baby while his father nursed Ayashi.

"It's the disease isn't it?" the old man said, placing Ayashi's head on his lap. "Cholera…"

"Yes," she replied, blinking beadily. Tears clouded her eyes. "Please, Kyo-san… my daughter…"

"We'll take care of her…"

"Father," the young man told Kyo. "She's not…?"

"I've always known that my time was up," Ayashi said. "Soon, I will be reunited with my husband and then we will be together again. I will die with the same disease that killed him."

"Don't say that," Kyo said, putting his hands on the woman's brow. Her sweat was cold. "He would have wanted you to live."

Ayashi savored the crying sound of her baby girl before she allowed herself to be engulfed into an eternal state of oblivion…

A mighty thunder steered Soujiro Seta in his sleep. He opened his eyes and saw a dying camp fire in front of him. A gust of wind swept in his direction, making him shiver slightly.

He rubbed his eyes.

"_A – are_… the same dream," he muttered under his breath, trying to remember. But he can hardly picture it anymore. The faces of the characters in his dream blurred the more he tried to remember them. He suddenly felt a cold sensation on his dead: water droplets.

"Rain?" he said, looking up. Another gust of wind. He shivered again. "Perfect… just perfect."

"Aachoo!"

Soujiro wiped his nose. He had spent the whole night huddled under a tree while sadly watching the rain crush the warm campfire he had made for himself last night. The rain poured all night, that he had fallen asleep standing under a tree. But it didn't matter. It was a short-lived sleep. The next thing he knew was waking up to find himself all wet and soggy.

'At least I was able to get away from that old man in the village.' He recalled passing by a nearby village the day before. An old painter he had come across with pleaded him to be a model with only a leaf to cover his loins, for a painting. Soujiro stretched with all his might. He changed into different clothing which he brought with him. He tucked in his favorite blur kimono in his bag and decided that he would let it dry later on in the evening.

He walked on. It looked as if nothing had happened last night – the day was bright, sunny and exceedingly warm. He smiled to himself.

"Well, let's see… what should I do today?" he cheerfully said out loud. "Today's a nice day and I should relax from my wandering a bit. I guess even Mr. Himura took breaks in his journey."

He had an idea of eating in a tea shop for lunch, just for the fun of it.

"And with a little bit of money," he said. Ever since he had left from his services for Shishio Makoto, he had been used to fend for himself. His stomach grunted in response.

"Besides, I haven't had a decent food for a month now."

The village, after all, did not look like a village at all. It looked more like a ghost town, seemingly uninhabited for a long period of time. The houses were beaten up by the weather, the sun silhouetting from the holes on the roof. The screens of the windows were graying and patched. Agriculture was down, the animals – chickens, dogs, cats, ducks – were unusually skinny, that even a common thief would not dare to steal one. The occupants almost reflected that impoverished picture during Japan's Meiji Era. They were seemingly the image that was brought about by rampant corruption the villagers were dressed in rags; most of them had untidy hair. The men looked as if they do not bother to shave. The children were all skin and bones. Their parents allowed them to run along and play with their malnourished condition, mingling with the farm animals in the process. Farming, on the other hand, was the primary livelihood of the villagers. Soujiro felt a sharp twinge of emptiness in the air as if he had when he and the rest of Shishio Makoto's army ransacked the Shingetsu Village not so long ago. The image of the residents – their hapless aura and apathetic faces reminded him of what has become of the Shingetsu Village, which later on turned almost into a ghost town. The unhealthy state of their agriculture and the untidy state of the village reminded him of the old dark days when he was a servant of a tyrant who wanted to take over Japan.

'This is terrible,' he said to himself, looking at his surroundings, which looked as if it looks back. Eyes followed him as if the residents were not used to having visitors, let along passersby.

'Just keel on moving, I'm sure nothing bad will happen,' Soujiro told himself, keeping his head down so as not to catch anyone's eyes.

'I'm just a passerby… lalalala…' he looked at his surroundings. Eyes were indeed following him. He chose to ignore them. It was like being watched by skulking vultures, waiting to tear out what's left of him. He was starting to get annoyed. He kept his eyes fixed at the distance, keeping a casual smile to his face.

Two young children, who both had copper skins, ran past his way. They were probably playing something. They were about five years of age, barely reaching the height of Soujiro's hips. Soujiro watched them as they frolicked by his side, with faint smiles on their faces. One of them picked up a twig and started thwacking the other, who whimpered in the process. The two chased each other and almost stepped on a chicken picking on the earth in search for food.

"Oh you nuisances!" Leave my chicken alone!" a toothless woman said, picking up her chicken. She was holding a walking stick to support her weight.

"Stop – bugging - my – chickens!" she shouted, thwacking her walking stick on of the children. The children immediately ran at a distant where the old lady could not reach. One of the children looked back at her and put out his tongue.

"Beh! Old Fag!" he jeered.

"How imprudent!" the old lady exclaimed. "Mischievous brats!"

With that, the old lady, turned on her heels and snuffed the chicken she saved.

"What are you staring at?" she sneered at a young man as he went past her.

Soujiro chose to ignore her. He did not bother to look back. All he wanted to do was get out of the village. The two children frolicked again. They stopped at a nearby house in their path and placed their ear on its wall. They giggled slightly of what they were hearing, and then later moments of listening, they frolicked again, the other child fondly thwacking his defenseless playmate. As Soujiro walked past the house which the two children has eavesdropped, he knew why they were laughing – there were two angry voices heard from inside the house: one belonged to a woman, the other, to a man.

"I go home with no dinner on my plate!" the man said.

"Well, then make one yourself!" the woman replied in a mocking voice. "I have children to take care of! I have a house to tidy! I have a mountain of laundry to wash! You, on the other hand, go about frolicking with your mates, fucking around the city!"

"Why you – "

Soujiro thought that it was a good time to test it: he pretended not to hear. The two children stopped frolicking now when the other one saw that his playmate was already bleeding on the brow from all the thwacking… he cried furiously for a parent that did not seem to appear anywhere. The other child stared for a while at his playmate and his bleeding brow and without any further hesitation, he ran away, leaving the other to cry frantically. None of the villagers seemed to notice. Soujiro walked past the child. He stopped to his tracks. He felt an unspeakable emotion in his chest which made him want to help the child. He remembered when he used to cry this way for a parent that was not there to dry his tears for him. It was a very disturbing scenario. But he chose to ignore the child's cries until he has reached the outskirts. He looked back at the village.

"The strong shall live and the weak shall die," she said under his breath. "This would have been the end result of Mr. Shishio's world – a place where every day was a fight to survive; an apathetic world where everyone will be forced to be stripped-off from their emotions; a carnal urge of survival alone would exist."

And he, Soujiro, was the first to be molded by Shishio Makoto's vision of the world – an unfeeling killing machine.

"_Oro?_"

"Kenshin," Kaoru said impatiently, displaying her usual pout. "A woman normally holds the arm of her lover when they're out together. You should know better than say 'oro' to me!"

She squeezed his arms tighter. Sanosuke, Yahiko and Misao, who were behind them, laughed even harder.

"Hey Kenshin," Yahiko shouted. "Act like a gentleman! I could give you a run for your money!"

A bandaged fist, almost the size of Yahiko's head, had banged the boy on top.

"Don't mind the twirp, Kenshin!" Sanosuke said, not removing his fist on Yahiko's head. Misao giggled at their side.

It was almost three months now ever since the battle with the _Juppongatana_, that the Kenshin-gumi decided to take a break and travel. They left Kyoto very early in the morning. By afternoon, they were near their destination. The road, which they took, was a very fine road. Combined with the beauty of the clear blue sky and her sunny companion, the day was absolutely perfect for travel. The area was surrounded with trees that shade them from the heat and ray of the sun, the leaves silhouetting on their heads. Kaoru kept convincing Kenshin to walk side-by-side with her, while clinging into his arms. Kenshin hesitated, thinking that the idea was a joke since Kaoru did not usually behave this way.

"Kaoru-_dono_," Kenshin started. "I really feel awkward, I'm Sorry."

"There's really nothing to be awkward about."

"But – but…" he scratched his crimson head, hoping that it will open into little red pieces and collapse.

"I just remembered," Misao said, peering above the trees. "We're heading north aren't we?"

"_Hai,_" they chorused.

"Isn't it that Soujiro Seta is also heading north? No chance that we might bump into him, eh?"

There suddenly became a change of wind: the group fell silent, their faces darkened as if the whole battle with the _Juppongatana_ has come into them again. Soujiro Seta was the right-hand man of Shishio Makoto. His 'Sword of heaven' matched Kenshin's God-like speed. He was infamously known to them as the only person to have ruined Kenhisn's _Sakabatou_ in halves. He was also known for assassinating Toshimichi Okubo, making him one of the most sought-after fugitives at this point.

"I haven't met him personally," Yahiko said, resting his bamboo sword on his shoulder. "But if he's managed to break Kenshin's sword in half, then he must really be a genius. Isn't he, Kenshin?"

Kenshin nodded. Yes, the boy was a genius no doubt but there was something incredibly yet melancholically strange about him. He was like an impenetrable brick wall, a stronghold that remains unshakable despite its weak foundations. "The strong shall live, and the weak shall die." The young man's voice echoed in Kenshin's head. These taunting words have haunted his dreams for months since that battle against Shishio ended.

'True, I 've always smiled in the rain. But the truth is, I was crying. Is it really that bad to be weak? I've always wanted to be strong, but… but… killing people… wasn't what I wanted! I never wanted to kill people!'

The sun peaked from the entangled leaves above the group as they marched on their travel, remembering the happiest and the worst of times.


	2. Saya Tenshi

"_Pl… Please…" she said under her breath, sweat trickling down her forehead. She was running out of breath. "Not Saya… not Saya…"_

_The baby girl cried harder in her arms. The woman looked over her shoulder. She could almost see the lines of their faces from a distant. One was already raising his spear, targeting her. Her heart skipped more beats, and without warning, she tripped from a tree stump, her baby girl falling from her arms. The chase was over._

Saya bolt upright. That dream… it has been reoccurring in her sleep from the past few days: the dark memory of her childhood – her mother Ayashi and the sacking of their village. She does not even know if the dream really did occur the way that it was pictured in her head, but it was certain that the events did occur. After all, she was only an infant when they happened.

She was working as a waitress and part-time entertainer in the House called Tenshin or Heart of Heaven. She has been working in the place since she became conscious of the material world – ever since, as her dream suggests, her dear mother died. From the accounts of the owners of the entertainment House, they stated that the villagers sold her in the place in exchange for five sacks of rice – the price of her worth. It was a time of chaos during that time. War affected the lives of every man, woman and child. No one was spared from the whips of poverty, brought about by the war, which consequently and carelessly affected the people – the masses – whose sakes were sacrificed for the war – a vendetta for power struggle.

Nineteen years after the war, Saya, now a young woman, got out of bed and tidied her comfort. She strode over her dressing corner and looked at the circular mirror which hung on the wall. Looking back was a young woman with clear azure-shaped eyes, whose fair nose glowed with the light of the light. Her thin lips formed a weak smile which she occasionally displayed whenever strange thoughts occur to her. It was a strange thing, but it seemed as if a smile can heal a confused heart.

The owner of the House was a strict woman. It was as if her workers were geishas who needed straightening every now and then. The owner was very kind despite her strictness. She treated Saya as if the orphan was her very own, even giving her a family name for the purpose of identification, and if ever, inheritance – Tenshin. The orphan's name is Tenshin, Saya.

The reflection on the mirror combed her long dark hair and fixed it into a tight bun. She was a waitress during the day. She crossed the night and sat down, massaging her legs, which were bandaged. The smell of mint entered her nostrils. Slowly, she removed the bandages. The muscles of her legs were soar still from dancing the previous night. She was a dancer in the evening. But it was not the typical dance which geishas and the Japanese community was accustomed to. The dance originated from a foreign country. It required much movement especially of the legs. It was a kind of foreign dance which came from the East: the owner of the House was the one who taught her the dance, which was passed on to her by her foreign of a mother. Saya changed her bandages with clean ones. She breathed the cool Ethyl scent which escaped the bandages. She felt the comfort it gave her tired leg. The sensation felt good.

"I am not a bank, Sano," Kaoru said sternly as they sat on the futon, while wondering what to order for lunch. They were a town away from the hot springs, their destination. "You should start counting your debts, Sanosuke. You owe me a lot. I'm not rich to actually fend for you numbskulls forever!"

"We're on a trip, Missy. Come on, it won't hurt if you treat me a little," Sano replied, smirking at Kaoru. "I mean, look –"he waved his bandaged and baldy misshapen hand. "– the state of my fist!"

"Don't give me that! I'm counting this one as one of your debts!"

"You go, Kaoru!" Misao said, laughing at Sanosuke.

"Weasel girl," he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, you cock-haired freeloader!" Misao shouted, raising her fist at Sano.

"Hey, hey…" Kenshin started, smiling at his noisy companions as people are starting to stare at them. "Let's not put out a fight. This place looks quite darn good to be having troublemakers like us."

"Who're you calling troublemakers, shrimp?!" Misao shouted at him.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but may I take your order?"

The group stopped abruptly. A young woman was standing In front of their corner, hesitating if she was going to take their order now of come back later.

"Oh we're sorry," Kaoru said, smiling politely. "Yes, we would like a whole order of beef pot and some fried cuttlefish and one pot of rice."

"Just one?.." Yahiko mumbled darkly.

"Yes, Yahiko, just one."

The waitress wrote on her list. "That will be all? How about drinks? Tea perhaps?"

"Oh, yes – and that too."

"Alright, your order will be up in about fifteen minutes," the waitress said, bowing slightly.

After she left, the group paid a lot of attention to their surroundings, as if it was the first time that they actually had the opportunity to look around.

The area was particularly beautiful – a combination of antique culture and a modernized version of a westernized Japan.

"Bamboo walls and western paintings?" Yahiko said, looking at the walls and the paintings that hung around the area. "This is one of the craziest restaurant I've ever been. Well, compared to that of Akabeko's."

"It's pretty much a combination of the old and the new," Kenshin said, looking at the paintings, which were nonetheless, a picture of the modern version of Japan. "Those paintings symbolize the modern picture of Japan where foreigners are mingling with the Japanese. Meanwhile, the antiquities you see around you are remnants of the Japanese culture during the To Ku Gawa Era."

"Kenshin seems to know a great deal about this place. Been here before have you?" Sano said.

"No, Sano. It's just based on my observation."

"One beef hot pot, fried cuttlefish, one pot of rice and one kettle of hot tea!" Saya shouted at the kitchen.

"First order of the day?" a cook, who looked up from eating breakfast, asked. "Quite early folks we've got here, eh?"

"Yeah," Saya replied, coming over to the table and helping herself with some grub. "Looks like they're from out of town… they way they speak, it's different."

The cook swallowed a mouthful of food and stood up.

"Right. On with the cooking," he said, rolling his sleeves. "Better not disappoint our out-of-towners!"

"I've had that strange dream again. The one when my mother runs from the thugs that runsack our village."

The cook stops fumbling abruptly. A swift silence between them.

"Do you think these dreams mean something? I've always been wondering the fate of my family… of who I am… of where I belong… it's been twenty long years… I still haven't found the answers to my life's questions. I don't want to be here forever. I want to realize that there's something for me out there; that there's a family waiting for me… or something. I don't want to dance for the rest of my life. I don't want to be waitress forever. I want to see more."

The cook stared at her. Saya has never opened up her feelings like this before. She and the cook were very close friends because of their life service to the restaurant. Like Saya, the cook was also sold to the owner of the restaurant. There was barely an age gap between them.

The cook does not know what to say to her. He just stared at her for a long time, waiting for a break from her reverie.

It was a moment before Saya noticed the clouding if her vision.

"I'm sorry, Haru," Saya said, wiping her eyes. "I didn't mean to cry before you, knowing that you have a lot of problems on your own."

Haru strode over to her and kneeled to have a better look at her face.

"Hey, that's enough," he said, wiping her tears with his own hands. "We're friends. We're brothers and sisters. We look after each other."

"Yahiko! How many times do I have to tell you to chew your food?"

It was the second time around that Yahiko choked over a lump of meat he just put in his mouth.

"Have some tea, Yahiko," Kenshin said, handing him a cup of tea. "It will help flush down. But drink it slowly. The tea's quite hot."

Yahiko took the simmering cup of tea and gulped it quickly. No sooner, his face turned red and he managed to spat out some boiling hot tea on Sano's face.

"I'll forgive you this time," Sano said, breaking his chopsticks in halves.

"Hey guys, you know what," Misao started, looking at a poster behind the counter. "They've got entertainment this evening and 'every evening, carrying on the tradition that was shaped during the To Ku Gawa Era' (She read). That sounds like fun. Maybe we should spend the night here. This is the last inn that we might run into. The village where the hotsprings are… there's not much to spend the night into."

"Well this place does look splendid," Kaoru suggested, looking around. "But the thing is, we don't have that much money to afford this luxury, although the idea does sound nice, Misao. I kind of like it."

"Yeah, and we can have a lot of touring to do if ever we stayed here. I heard that this place is the heart of this whole province."

"Just eat, Sano," Kaoru said, looking at him at the corner of her eyes. Sano smiled widely at her and immediately returned to his munching moments.

"Good morning, honored guests." A young woman appeared, bowing to them. It was the waitress who had served them their meal. "How are you doing with your meal?"

They all bowed back and gave responses that would make any management smile to their hearts content.

"The food was great!"

"This place is neat – a very unique display – I've never seen anything like it."

"The tea was a perfect brew. The cuttlefish was just so perfectly cooked that it seemed as if it melted in my mouth!"

"I think this is one of the best beef pots I've ever tasted, and I 'm not even a fond of it much!"

"Our friend Kaoru is also very generous enough to buy us second servings!"

"Shut up, Sano!"

The waitress smiled at them. "Well if the food contended you that much, I would also like to invite you to stay here for the night. We have discounts on guests that are first to arrive for the day, and since you guys are the first to arrive, you have a discount!"

"Hear that, Missy?" Sano rounded at Kaoru.

"Oh come on, Kaoru," Misao told Kaoru. "This is perfect!"

"This adds up to your debts at the dojo!" she replied, eye widening at Sano. Turning back to the waitress, she smiled weakly and she asked, "How much for two rooms?"


	3. A Conspiracy

The assassin watched as the _katana_ glimmered under the pale full moon. It was beautiful – perfectly crafted, designed to kill. The katana reflected the assassin's eyes – deep, mysterious and full of revenge. They were the eyes of a person whom have sworn a vendetta against the world, and thriving only to inflict the pain, which was borne out of the struggle of the strong, with only one conspiracy.

Just one.

The assassin has been plotting this revenge for over eight years. The plan was spindled carefully and systematically, that the enemy, however gifted with a skill that came from the heavens, will not become aware of it.

The enemy was strong; therefore the assassin must become stronger.

The enemy did not even know that the assassin has been in his midst for a long time, even meant committing in life certitude under his command. The enemy does not know that with each passing day, the spite of the assassin becomes even stronger. The enemy, now freely walking about, is not aware that his days are being counted, crossed-out and marked.

The _katana_ gleamed under the pale moon. It was the same gleam that the assassin remembers, eight years ago, during a stormy night that will mark the beginning of a vendetta.

_The assassin was only eight years old, shivering under the cold and damp storm. The cold wind swept the assassin's calloused face, almost not feeling anything except the aloofness of death. The assassin's father looked down at his child._

"_Hold on. It won't be long. Just be quiet and they'll be gone."_

'_They'll be gone.' These words resounded in the assassin's young ear. _

_Without warning, a small figure stood across the pavement wherein they were crouching. _

_The father's hands became even colder. His face turned paler, the look of death that was edging closer with every shivered breath he takes. The child must have noticed this about the father. Cries which the child has controlled for a time became explicit: it filled and echoed against raging storm._

_The small figure, which was barely bigger than the size of a fifteen year old child, held a sword which gleamed under the moon. Slowly but swiftly, the figure approached the crouching couple._

_A great lightning slashed the dark velvet sky. _

"Like it?"

A husky voice behind the assassin asked. The assassin awoke from his contemplation.

"I did not expect that swords like this still exist after the government passed a law that banned the wearing of swords. It must have cost a fortune," the assassin said, sheathing the sword, its gleam disappearing inside the scabbard.

"Yes," the man replied. "Many lives were taken in order to get that beauty."

"I see," the assassin looked at the man. He was a skinny old man with slits for eyes. His skin was as pale as the moon and with lips as thin as the slits of his eyes. His graying hair was rounded in a tight bun. This man was a former ninja during the To Ku Gawa Era.

"Well then, how was the journey?" the assassin asked.

"Well enough to do with," he answered. He breathed deeply, nostrils flaring. "I just love the smell of an evening after killing people. It makes me wonder of what happened to the dark days of the To Ku Gawa, now turned into something that allows the weak to walk freely about."

The assassin chuckled slyly to himself.

"I've heard words of similar nature before: the strong shall live and the weak shall die."

"Oh," the man rounded at the assassin. "But of course, you have other thoughts about those words I've just said? I know, you told me all about that philosophy, something which you...err, considering your resentment towards a person who once thrived on it; do not believe in it perhaps?"

"On the contrary, my sly friend," the assassin started. "I do believe in it. I find it rather… interesting… only that, I believe that it is missing something."

"What is that?"

"…that the cunning shall inherit the place of the strong."

The man smiled. "I've also come to bring you news by the way."

"Good."

"The young man has already travelled north three months ago after the Great Downfall, and has been sighted recently in Koto Village, where our eyes are most powerful. Accounts state that he should have been in the next village by now, the finest village in the north – Umeko Village."

"I see. Well, fate brought us together for a reason. That reason will soon be acknowledged. Himura the Battousai may be known for defeating the great Makoto Shishio. But I, Fyukotoko Michiko, will be known as the slayer of Seta the Tenken."

The man grunted.

"But of course," Michiko looked at his companion. "…with you, Shibuyen, as my right-hand man after we take the missing treasury of Shishio, we will use those riches to rebuild Shishio Makoto's army, reinvent the Juppongatana under my command and take over Japan."

Shibuyen smiled slightly, as if testing her. "Oh? That sounds like a big thing to do, so much work. I thought you said you only wanted revenge against the Seta? Why include the whole of Japan in your master plan?"

"I told you, didn't I? The cunning shall take the place of the strong."


	4. Wind and Fire

Soujiro held the map closer to his face, almost touching his nose. He sketched the trail, which he has crossed, with his fingers. According to the map, he was near the heart of Umeko Village, where the bulk of the population in the north was. Obaa from the tea house gave him the map, although he did not really need it, and could find his own way, it would still be useful to keep it in case of an emergency. The map showed only the areas covered within the north-center of Japan. It was a tattered piece of brown paper that was thinning due to the passing of time. It also said that Umeko Village had the finest inns and restaurant, truly a spot for travelers. But all these pleasure would of course cost much, so Soujiro decided that it would be better to just cross the village and spent the night in the outskirts.

The evening was so dark that he can barely see his path. Squinting in the dark, he tried to make sense of all the shapes and sized around him.

Suddenly, a great gust of wind swept his direction, blowing away the piece of map from his grip.

"Oy," he exclaimed, chasing after the flying piece of tattered paper, which flew furiously fast away from him. The gust of wind blew the paper from Soujiro's left, making him go into that direction. The paper went farther and farther away from Soujiro, seemingly disappearing in the darkness. Soujiro could hear his own breathing against the sound of the wind. His footsteps echoed with the rustling leaves that surrounded the forest within which the gust of wind was beckoning him onto. The paper disappeared behind the trees at a distant from his right.

'Perhaps I should just leave that map,' Soujiro thought, turning right as well and feeling thirsty all of a sudden. 'I could get another one…'

But before he could turn back, he the furious blowing of the wind had stopped, making the map land on a clearing.

"That's fine, so now you suddenly stop," he said, looking down at the ragged thing upon reaching it.

He looked across the road which the chase has brought him to, and something else caught his eyes.

From afar, he could see tiny lights of all colors crumpled together in one place, like a mountain full of fireflies in different spectrums that mocks the eerie silence which the velvet night displayed. The lights sparkled as did the stars that faithfully twinkled above Soujiro's head, peaking through each other as if to hide their full potential. It was a beautiful sight to watch: Umeko Village in the evening. It looked more like a city, lively and busy, that it would have been thought that there was a festival today.

But there was not. It was only Umeko Village in the evening – and every other evening. The Meiji government has established, since the beginning of the Restoration, that the village would become the center and heart of the north: the area where travelers are welcome whenever they would pass. The village receives a large amount of support from the government – funding for the development and modernization of the village. In no time soon, Umeko village may even become Umeko city – the heart of the north. The city charter was part of the Restoration as Japan opened its doors to foreign countries. It is one of the adjustments made for the development of Japan's economy as a whole – Umeko village was being developed for tourism purposes.

Up close, the village was as festive as Soujiro expected it: there were a lot of selling and a lot of buying; yelling and laughing; running and fussing about. The air was filled by the scent of food, perfume and people. The resident houses were almost unrecognizable with the stalls displayed around the area. Everywhere, Soujiro could find smiling faces. The villagers were clad in colorful garments, not traditionally Japanese in the most essence. Looking up, Soujiro saw where the colorful lights are coming from: there were sequences of glowing cellophanes of different colors, shapes and sizes, lighted by small candles inside each. They lighted the whole village with many shades that the human eye cannot afford to distinguish. Soujiro could not help looking up.

"Move! Move!" a voice in front of him said.

Soujiro looked in his direction and jumped. A man carrying three boxes filled of jars containing radiant fireflies was struggling to make his way through the crowd. As he approached Soujiro, the young man stepped back to allow him to pass through. The man disappeared through the crowd. Soujiro noticed that the population was dense. Surely, not all of these people live in the village: they must be travelers like him.

Soujiro walked on. Instinctively, he decided that looking around will not cost him anything. Besides, it was not every day that he can come across a place like this; something which he has never been into.

He turned left and found two tea shops facing each other, both fumed warm airs and relaxing aromas into the air – the smell of chamomile and the sensation of mint.

Turning right, he saw a group of children huddled together at a small caravan, watching what seems to be a puppet show. Soujiro caught lines from the small theater like 'Bakumatsu' and 'Ishin shishi' – the play must be about the To Ku Gawa Era, he thought. Straight ahead, Soujiro could see a kimono shop, where colorful and expensive-looking clothes were displayed. The light inside the shop, Soujiro saw, was in a light shade of blue.

He turned right. Surprisingly, there was nothing at first that Soujiro thought that he has reached the end of the village: all he could near was silence which isolated the noise from afar. But all of a sudden, he heard music. The next thing he knew was being blinded by yellow light, which suddenly came from a nearby house to his right. The light silhouetted like rays from a summer sun against the bamboo-walled house.

Curious, he approached the blinding light. When he was near enough, he leaned on the bamboo shoots to have a better look.

He blinked several times before seeing clearly that the blinding yellow light was caused by at least a dozen of torches lighting the whole restaurant, which resoundingly glowed in the same manner. He blinked several times again, hardly daring to believe his eyes: _a flame was dancing_? Between the torches was a figure dancing to a fast beat that he has never heard of before.

A flame was dancing.

But it had arms and legs that swayed with the music; it had long dark hair; it had a body that was clad a red fiery silk garment. The flame was a human being – a young woman who was dancing.

He blinked again. His vision did not fail him this time – he could see people around the room behind the torches and sitting in corners, watching the young woman and were, like him, mesmerized by her.

The flame danced and danced, her footsteps echoing the room. It seemed like an eternity, watching a dancing flame behind the bamboo walls with no one noticing him. He wished to stay until the dance was over. He threw away his pride from doing such a humbling deed such as stealing a vision of the show of which he was not even supposed to be an audience. Finally, the music slowed and so did the dancer. The performance was coming to an end. And then, as soon as the music ended, so did the dance.

The room was filled with applauds and praises. The young woman straightened up and bowed in appreciation, and without warning, skirted out of view. Soujiro followed her with his vision until he could no longer see her prominent red dress. He blinked several times again.

"What a performance," he told himself, smiling. "I've never seen anything like it." And so, on with his journey. He turned to leave when, suddenly, something else has caught his eye through the bamboo walls:

Red hair, a cross-shaped scar and a reverse-blade sword.


	5. Sightings

Kenshin Himura's crimson head blended with the dancing flames around him. His sakabatou lay resting beside him on the futon. He, Kaoru, Sanosuke, Yahiko and Misao were sitting at their corner in the restaurant once more for the performance which was rumored to be unlike any other. And true enough, it lived up to its rumors. After eating lunch in Tenshin restaurant, to Sanosuke's delight the group checked in for the night. They spent the whole afternoon wandering around the village and drinking more tea, as if they didn't had enough, at the shops.

Kaoru kept calculating Sanosuke's debts.

When it was mid-evening, the group finally went back to the restaurant for the night's rest. Entering the restaurant once again, they were surprised of the changes which the staff has arranged for the evening sessions: at least a dozen of torches were lined against each other at the corners, giving way for a space in the middle. Interested, they decided to stay a little while, and then retire to bed. But it was not a little while – the came to find out that the evening audience was entertained by performers that are most unusual, but are at best in their fortes – acrobats, fire-breathers, sitar-players and a dancer who was the main star of the evening. It was the waitress who had served them lunch. Only this time, she was not in a kimono, which a worker in Tenshin House usually wears. She was dressed in a red flowing dress, which hung on her shoulders, baring her arms and clean neck. Her long dark hair was resting on her back. As soon as the music played and she started to dance, the crowd has become quiet of her enchanting sight.

After the performance, Kenshin and his companions were among those who clapped the hardest.

"Eastern dance?" Kaoru started after the performance was over, and the crowd has begun to leave. "I've never seen anything quite like it."

"It sure was very entertaining, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin said, smiling at her. "I'm glad that you liked it."

Misao yawned widely. "Yeah. But I think even we need our beauty sleep. We better go up stairs and retire for the night."

"That's a good idea, Misao," Kenshin replied. "Maybe we should all retire to bed."

Despite the tiredness in Kenshin's voice, Yahiko slapped his head.

"Oro!"

"Kenshin, what the heck do you think you're doing?" he said, glaring at the man but blushing in the process. "You're so tactless! You can do better than that! At least, invite ugly out for a little stroll or something and… you know…"

Kaoru's face turned into the same color as Kenshin's hair.

"Yahiko! Wha – What the heck do you think you're saying?! Really! How does a child come to know these things?!"

Yahiko waved his arms furiously at Kaoru's direction. "Who are you calling a child, ugly? Well then, let me quote Megumi for you, ugly: 'grow up little girl'!"

"What was that?!"

Kenshin held up an arm to calm them both. "Guys, I think we've had enough for the day. Why don't we just leave the argument for tomorrow?"

"Lucky your sweetheart's here, ugly," Yahiko said, making Kaoru flush even more while restraining herself from turning Yahiko into a pulp.

Soujiro watched the lot from his hiding place, struggling to keep his swordsman spirit low. He knew that Himura was a special case when it comes to spying. The former assassin could detect his enemies by sensing their swordsman spirits. He had so many questions in his mind right now, so many questions that he wanted to ask the man who inspired him to search for his own truth. And there he was, inches away from him. But then, Soujiro thought that it would make no difference – seeing his former enemies. They were going on with their lives, probably forgotten about him. As Soujiro watched them leave, he felt a heavy heave in his chest, seeing his former enemies happy with their lives and walking freely about not just as comrades but as friends as well. He thought about the Juppongatana, Shishio Makoto, Ayumi Komagata, his childhood and the long journey that he must meet; and realized how alone he was in the world, with no companions to laugh along with him like Kenshin Himura's. He felt jealous of Kenshin Himura, one who has found his own truth in the world; who does not need to win any battles to prove his principles right; who has people around to cherish; who has a strength not defined by his stealth, speed and stamina but by his strong will to live. Soujiro turned his back from the bamboo wall, no longer smiling. Nowadays, smiling became harder than it ever has. He looked above him and gazed for a while at the stars. It was a beautiful sight. He breathed deeply, tasting the evening. There was no point staying in the village anymore. He had to go on.

"What is it, Kenshin?" Kaoru said, looking at Kenshin over her shoulder. They were about to leave the area when something suddenly caught Kenshin's attention. He had stopped from his tracks, looking over his shoulder. Kaoru followed Kenshin's vision and looked at what it was seeing.

"Kenshin, there's nothing there," she said. "What were you looking at?"

She considered the empty bamboo wall, which showed the peaking stars above the night sky, Kenshin was looking at.

"I don't know, Kaoru," he replied, not removing his gaze from the spot. "I thought I felt someone watching us from there."

Kaoru stared at him. "Kenshin?"

To her surprise, he turned back at her, smiling. "Just ignore me, Miss Kaoru. Someone just probably watched the performance from that spot a moment ago, nothing to worry about."

She smiled at him.

"Miss Kaoru?"

"What is it, Kenshin?"

"Would you mind walking around with me in the village tonight?"

Tenshin House was dimly lit by a few candles which saved the restaurant from being engulfed in the darkness completely. The guests were fast asleep in their rooms. The night was filled with silence fit for an infant.

The floorboards squeaked under Sanosuke's every footstep.

"Shh!" Misao sneered at him, putting a finger between her lips. "People are sleeping!"

"Try to carry that body of a cow, Sanosuke!" Yahiko added.

"Why you little twirp," he muttered in gritted teeth. "It's way past your bed time, junior. Maybe I should put you to sleep. My fists will be happy to do it!"

"Will you two be quiet?" Misao whispered. "We won't be able to follow Kenshin and Kaoru if you two are arguing all the time."

"Oh sure," Yahiko whispered scathingly. "They're so preoccupied with themselves, that they won't even notice that we're right under their noses."

Slowly, they went down the stairs and crossed the dimly-lit hall.

"Excuse me!"

The three jumped at the sound of a woman's voice. They spun around. It was the girl who performed the dance that captivated many. She has already changed in a mint-colored kimono, her hair in a tight bun.

"May I know where our honored guests are going and when they are returning? The House is about to have its curfew."

Her voice was as soft as a lofty music, but with a stern and strong tone.

"Oh, we're just out to retrieve our friends, who came out for a little romantic stroll around the village. We'll be back in no time. Sorry for the trouble," Sanosuke said embarrassingly.

"We're sorry," Yahiko and Misao chorused.

"Oh and by the way," Yahiko said, blushing slightly. "You really dance great."

They turned on their heels and made a quick stride out of the House. Outside, the coldness of the night greeted them.

Yahiko shivered. "Where could they have gone? They can't be too far."

"Come on," Misao said, beckoning them. "We have to go back early."

"Now what is our purpose again for doing this?" Sanosuke asked, as they made their way in the colorful village, which does not seem to lose life until dawn.

"To know if Himura and Kaoru are getting somewhere."

They scanned carefully among the passersby for a red hair and a big pink ribbon.

"I can't see them anywhere," Yahiko said, standing on his toes and struggling to see above the crowd with his small stature. "Maybe they've gone to a quiet place far from the village where they can smooch to their heart's desire."

Sanosuke scratched his head. "Listen, inviting Kaoru out for a little stroll is already a big improvement in their relationship. Why should we still check if they're getting somewhere?"

"Well I don't know about you," Misao said, standing on her heels as well. "But I want to hear Himura confess his love to her. I mean, Kaoru can't wait forever."

"Look! I think I've found them!" Yahiko exclaimed, running through the crowd.

"Hey, don't get too near them and be quiet!" Misao said, running after Yahiko, who struggled to find his way through the dense crowd. Sanosuke ran after the two.

"Ouch!" Yahiko shouted as he fell to the ground. He had bumped into someone. "Watch where you're going!"

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to find my way."

Soujiro looked at the brown-skinned boy who had bumped into him. He was a companion of Kenshin Himura's.

"Great!" Yahiko said. "Now I think I've lost them!"

"Yahiko!"

Soujiro looked behind the boy and saw a young woman fighting to make her way through the crowd. Behind her, was a man who is unmistakably Sanosuke Sagara. Soujiro recognized them both. He never forgets a face. As the two appeared in a closer view, Soujiro's and Sanosuke's eyes met, making the latter stop its owner to his tracks.

'It can't be,' Sano thought, recognizing the infamous face that killed Toshimichi Okubo.

"Seta, Soujiro?" he said under his breath.

"What is it now?" Misao asked, turning back at him. When she saw what he was looking at, she was just as surprised.

"I'm really sorry for bumping into you," Soujiro said, with his usual smile. But he did not wait for a reply form Yahiko. Before the boy could say another word, Soujiro turned on his heels and disappeared through the crowd.

"I've lost them," Yahiko said to Misao and Sanosuke as they ran in his direction. To his surprise, they did not slow down at the sight of him; but grabbed him with both arms and dragged him in a different direction.

"Never mind! Just come along!" the two chorused.


	6. A Long Evening

Soujiro looked behind him, keeping his strides at a pace. He could not see them, and yet he could feel their presence amidst the people around them. He reached the end of the village, choosing not to look behind him. He went farther and farther, reaching a dark forest, quiet and dark. Light was coming only from the village he had been into. He went deeper into the forest quietly, his footsteps rustling with the knee-heighted grasses, until he could no longer feel their presence. The moon was nowhere visible through the thick cluster of trees, big and small. Finally, Soujiro looked behind him. Blinking in the dark, not only he could no longer sense them but he could no longer see them and it was not just because of the darkness. He stopped in his strides, darkness as his only company. Wind blew in his direction; it could have been the same wind that brought him in the village. He stood looking in the darkness for a while. Just as when he has chosen to move on with his journey, he felt something different – a formidable aura.

From an unknown direction, a crescent blade swept in his direction. He managed to dodge it in time – for him, the speed was far too easy to predict. The blade flew like a boomerang, which went back into the direction of its owner. Soujiro looked behind him. As dark as it was, he could see a figure standing on a large tree branch. It looked as if the figure has been keenly watching him ever since he has arrived in the forest.

The dark figure stood at the spot, holding the crescent blade. He was shrouded in black clothing, which buried every inch of him, including his mouth. Only visible were his eyes, which Soujiro saw gleaming from afar. It was like a cat watching a prey. He, Soujiro, was the prey. But Soujiro, however underhanded he was at the moment without any weapon, was unmoved by his attacker's formibadle appearance.

His first question was what the attacker has exactly predicted.

"Who are you?"

The attacker smiled through the darkness, as if to intimidate him. The attacker did not reply. Soujiro smiled back at him, intimidating him back.

"Fine," Soujiro voiced out through the darkness. "If you will not identify yourself, then what do you want?"

The attacker, silent, moved his weaponless arm and pointed it at Soujiro's direction.

"Oh!" Soujiro chuckled, as if being taunted by a joke. "You want my life? But may I know why?"

Before his attacker could reply, Soujiro felt another swift movement this time from behind – this time, a swing of a sword. Faster than a blink of an eye, he managed to get behind his new attacker.

"I suppose you want my life too?" he asked the hooded figure from behind.

'If he had a sword he could have killed you before you could even realize you're dead, Shibuyen,' Michiko thought, watching from her spot with her crescent blade waiting to fly. 'He is no ordinary swordsman. Having taught by none other but Shishio Makoto himself, this young man is one of the most dangerous warriors there are in Japan today – absolutely unbeatable. Battousai the Manslayer is the only person to have surface above Soujiro other than his former master.'

"You really are as fast as the boss said," Shibuyen's oily voice said, his back against Soujiro still, while looking at the young man from the corner of his eyes. "Despite your loss against Himura the Battousai , I say you have not slipped at all – Soujiro the Tenken."

Despite his shock at how his attacker knew this much information about him, he chose to ignore it and kept himself at a laid-back tone.

"Fast?" Soujiro asked. "That was fast for you? As I remember correctly, I was not moving fast enough at that time."

Whether Shibuyen was struck by this, he chose to ignore it but instead, aimed at another attack – and another and another. He swung his sword at the young man, mustering every ounce of his strength in every attack. Soujiro kept dodging them, no matter how Shibuyen tries, giving blow after blow. Shibuyen was sure that he could see Soujiro's movements very clearly, but then they could only be after-images of the young man.

Michiko watched them and she knew that Soujio was aware that she was.

Shibuyen advanced at Soujiro, who disappeared for a moment in the darkness, but reappeared again away from Shibuyen's direction.

'The best thing you can do, Shibuyen, is try,' she thought. 'But you cannot defeat him.'

Shibuyen jumped at a great distance away from Soujiro, holding his sword.

'What ability is this?' Shibuyen thought, taking deep breaths. 'I cannot even get close to him. Is he faster than the speed of light? I was sure that I was moving at the speed of light, and why was he smiling?'

Soujiro smiled more widely at him. "I think you should retire, old man. You're not really that agile anymore, although I must say that you are quick for someone your age."

Shibuyen's heart skipped a beat. This boy was truly a gift from heaven.

"I don't know what's going on here. But I hate it when someone gets outnumbered by his enemies."

Soujiro spun around. Behind him, Sanosuke Sagara emerged from the darkness, holding up his bandaged fist. He saw that it still has not healed since his fight with the fallen monk, Anji.

"Who the hell are you?" Shibuyen asked, facing the newcomer. "A comrade, I suppose?"

Sanosuke looked at Soujiro's darkened figure before answering Shibuyen, but before he could speak, Soujiro got ahead of him.

"No," he answered as politely as he can. "He is not a comrade. He's with Mr. Himura. Sanosuke Sagara, isn't it?"

Sanosuke smirked at Soujiro. "Guess you remembered me."

From behind Sanosuke, Soujiro saw two more of Himura's comrades – the boy he has bumped into this evening, and the young woman who was a member of the Oniwabanshu.

The young boy immediately grabbed his wooden sword, which hung at his back. "Who the hell are these jerks? Are they with him?"

Soujiro knew the young boy was referring to him.

"No women and children allowed please," Shibuyen sneered. "We don't want them dead now, do we?"

"What did you just say?!" Misao shouted.

"Enough!"

The voice had come from the dark figure that stood on the tree branch.

"There will be no other bloodshed here tonight except the Tenken's. But if you insist on making your lives short, Shibuyen and I will be honored to help you. If it is a fight two against four, it will not be a problem for us!"

The voice was deep and firm, but it belonged undoubtedly to –

"A woman?" Sanosuke said, surprised when the figure had taken off her black wrappings. She was wearing a red kimono. Her black hair was very short, not reaching her shoulder. She could have been easily mistaken for a man; however, judging from the curves of her slender body, it can be said that it belonged to a woman.

She vanished from the tree and reappeared in front of Soujiro.

"I won't fight an unarmed man, Tenken," she said, raising the crescent blade. "You will die if you don't take a weapon with you."

"_Are_?" Soujiro blinked, as if being asked for a cup of tea. "But I don't have any weapons with me. Look! (He raised his hands for evidence) I'm unarmed!"

"Hey, Sano," Yahiko whispered, edging at his companion. "This is the guy who split Kenshin's reversed-blade sword in two? He looks geekier than Kenshin."

"Shibuyen," the woman called her servant. "Give him your sword."

Shibuyen considered at first, looking at his boss and at Soujiro; then finally, he threw his sword at the young man.

Soujiro grabbed the sword, feeling it under his grip. He knew that it was not the right time to be choosy but –

'This sword sucks,' he thought.

He faced his opponent, his emotionless eyes set to attack. Michiko studied her opponent. It was the battle that she has been waiting for in ten years. Soujiro Seta was going to feel the pain that he had inflicted upon her. For ten years she has been making herself strong, becoming a gangster and a professional assassin for government oppositions. After she was left without a family, her soul had lost the ability to feel pity and happiness. She even cut her hair off in order to look like a man. She travelled around Japan to look for the boy who had killed her father that rainy evening. And then, one day, _he_ found her instead – in a village she has been staying for the night at that time. Soujiro, along with Senkaku, was recruiting soldiers for Shishio Makoto's army.

She joined Shishio's army, watching Soujiro Seta from under his nose. The soldiers all feared him, except her. There was no space left for fear in her heart – only spite, strong enough to kill. Soujiro was forebodingly known by the soldiers to have killed many people. They say he was as merciless as Shishio Makoto. They say he was faster than the speed of light. They say that his heart was frozen as his conscience, which he did not really had at all. But no matter what she hears, there was no space left for fear in her heart – only spite, strong enough to kill. She has been only waiting for the Soujiro's moment of weakness to inflict her revenge, even if it costs her life. After Shishio Makoto has fallen, Michiko systematically planned for Soujiro's fall. And now, here she was, her enemy within her crescent blade's reach.

"Attack," Soujiro said to Michiko, watching her intently with expressionless eyes. "If you are after me for a long time, you must be itching to attack me, so come. Don't allow yourself to wait another minute."

"You attack first," she replied, clutching her weapon tighter. "I am not a fool, Tenken. Your strength comes from advancing in on your opponents. I will not allow myself to be fooled by someone like you."

"What you've said is not true. Thinking ahead of the opponent is not really my style – that's Mr. Himura's doing. I don't read. I just attack."

"Liar! You're as cunning as you are skilled! I don't care! I –"

"Very Well," Soujiro said, vanishing immediately into thin air.

Misao , Yahiko and Shibuyen all had startled expressions. Michiko and Sanosuke, who both had seen Soujiro in battle, were not surprised by this.

"Vanished!" Misao exclaimed. "He just vanished!"

"I've never seen anyone move as fast as Kenshin!" Yahiko added.

Michiko did not manage to react in time. All she could remember was hearing an indistinguishable sound which seemed like the sound of a battling gun and feeling cold iron cut across the flesh of her shoulders. She did not feel any pain until her body had hit the grassy ground. She laid panting, blood gushing out of her injured shoulder and painting the green grasses red. She could smell her own blood and the aroma of soil and grass. When she looked up, she saw the Tenken standing before her, holding a sword which was lined with strips of her own blood.

"Why?" she grunted, glaring at Soujiro. "Why did you not kill me?! Weren't you supposed to be a heartless killer?! Why?! Why?! Go on – finish it!"

Soujiro stood his ground, looking down at her. "I have no desire to take your life from the very beginning. But I want to know why you want to take my life."

She merely glared at him. "Killing you is not my only goal. It is only a surplus of our plans to take over Japan."

"Take over Japan?" he asked scathingly as if this was a joke. "With that weakness? Tell that to your injured shoulder. You will never succeed with that weak state."

"Shut up! What do you know? You were just Shishio's puppet! You couldn't even think for yourself! You can't even decide what's wrong and what's right! You don't even know what you were fighting for! You just had the desire to be above the Juppongatana! You just want to compensate for your inferiority!"

Soujiro held his ground, keeping his head clear. He has been taunted this way before. He was not about to give the enemy the satisfaction once again by breaking down, although he could feel in his heart that almost everything she had said was true.

"Taunting me won't get you anywhere," he said, smiling down at her. "As for the plan to control Japan, unless you have reached the level of Mr. Shishio's or Mr. Himura's strength, I would advise you to drop it. Such a weakling like you will never succeed."

He slashed the sword in the open space to remove the blood from it. He sheathed it and threw it back to its owner, who caught it with trembling hands. He turned back to Michiko, who laid bleeding on the ground and glaring at Soujiro as if he could melt any moment.

"Your life is spared," he said. And with that, he walked away from the lot who all stared at him as he went.

"Oy," Sanosuke called after him weakly as he slowly disappeared into the darkness of the forest.


	7. Of Hotsprings and Heavy River Currents

The next morning, Misao, Sanosuke and Yahiko recalled the incident that they've witnessed to Kenshin and Kaoru.

"And he just left?" Kenshin asked as the group made their way to their main destination: the hot springs.

"Yes," the three chorused. An awkward silence settled among them.

"I'm thinking, Kenshin," Sanosuke started, breaking the silence. "That the battle between you and him really punched some senses into him. Maybe it was his conscience at work last night."

"Isn't Soujiro Seta the right-hand man of Shishio?" Kaoru asked Kenshin. "I never imagined him to be young."

"He was also the young man who broke my Sakabatou in halves," he answered. "He was a very good fighter. I have no doubts why Shishio Makoto kept him as his most devout servant. But after our duel, Soujiro left Shishio's services to find his own truth in the world."

"I see."

"So maybe that's why he's wandering around now, just as you have done," Misao said.

A middle-aged lady in a pure white kimono bowed to them as they approached the entrance to the hot springs. Behind her was an enormous wooden gate with the name Chiyo Hot Springs written on it. There was also a door at the size of the lady where people could enter.

"Welcome, honoured guests. May I help you?"

Kaoru bowed to her as well before speaking. "We're here for the hot springs, ma'am."

"I see," she said, smiling. "Please proceed this way."

The hostess opened the door behind her and gestured to the group to enter.

"Hey Sano, you're so enormous you couldn't fit here," Yahiko sneered at Sanosuke they made their way inside. Sanosuke had to bend a little in order to fit into the door.

"Kenshin, what's wrong?"

He looked at Kaoru, snapping from his daydream. They were the only ones left outside.

"Oh, nothing, Kaoru-dono," he said, smiling at her.

"You were looking over the mountains."

He smiled, scratching his head. "It was nothing. Let's go inside."

Soujiro took a deep breath as he walked parallel to the river's direction. The currents were quite strong and heavy. He looked at it and imagined if he was riding on its currents. He has been walking this forest since the previous night. He hasn't slept after the incidence. Questions were ringing inside his head; it was more than he could take. Sleep would not do him any good. Whether Michiko and the crony was a serious opponent, he did not know or care. He just wanted to go on with his journey.

He stopped by the fury river. Stooping down, he scooped a handful of water and buried his face in it. The water was cool and refreshing. Eyes closed, he scooped another handful and smelled something in the water that was quite stingingly familiar to his senses. He looked down at the water in his hands and saw blood. His face vividly reflected on it, as it had in the past.

He let the water go and looked across the stream. A body was limping on a huge rock in the river. Should he go get it, or just let it be?

Hesitating, Soujiro dropped his bag and crossed the water. He grabbed the body by the waist and hoisted it to his back. It was heavy. This person could be dead by now. He carefully dropped the body to the lumpy earth and looked down at it, catching his breath. He turned the body to see if it was still alive. It was the girl he saw last night in the town, the one who danced with flames. She was in a terrible state. Her kimono was drenched in blood. Her unkempt dark brown hair almost covered her face completely. She was stabbed by the waist.

"Could she still be alive?" Soujiro muttered under his breath, looking at the fresh wound. He checked for a pulse. The girl was still alive, but barely. She has lost too much blood.

At first he hesitated, but then he pulled out a dagger from his kimono – the only defense he carried in case of danger.

"I'm sorry," he told the unconscious body and then cut her obi. Slowly, and careful of not looking too much at the girl's flesh, he examined the wound. It was not such a deep stab, perhaps it must have been caused by a simple dagger. He took out a small box from his bag. It was a kit to treat wounds, one that he has been using to treat his when he was under Shishio's training. He treated the wound, hesitating with every stroke as to why he did not just chose to leave the body and go on with his journey.

The girl regained consciousness late in the afternoon. Soujiro leaned on a tree the whole time, waiting for her to awaken. He had questions that he wants the girl to answer.

The first thing that she saw was the crimson sky and the setting sun.

When Soujiro saw her stirring, he approached her and sat beside her weak body. The girl looked at him with distant eyes. She had the brightest green eyes that he has ever seen.

Not knowing what to say, Soujiro asked, "What's your name?"

He thought it was a stupid question but then at least he said something.

The girl stared blankly at him for a long time as if she has never seen anything like him before.

"What's your name?" he repeated, thinking that she might not have heard the question.

She blinked a couple of times at Soujiro, as if she couldn't understand the question.

Before Soujiro can conclude that she was deaf, the girl answered weakly, "I don't know."

It was now Soujiro who thought that he might not have heard properly.

"What? What did you say?"

"I said I don't know."

He looked at the girl's wound. "I'm sorry, but… what did you say?"

She took her gaze away from him and looked at the crimson sky above.

"I said don't know my name," she said more clearly. "I don't… remember anything."

Soujiro sat staring at the girl for a long time, as she lay motionless and blank, before considering that she must have acquired amnesia.

Miles away, Kenshin and the group made their way back to the inn that they were staying for their final night in the area.

"That was so relaxing," Misao said gleefully. "I've forgotten how good hot springs were. We should do this more often, you know."

"Yeah and maybe you can pay next time, Misao," Yahiko said.

"Kenshin," Kaoru said, looking at Kenshin. "What are you thinking?"

Kenshin snapped to his senses, amazed in how much Kaoru can sense his thoughts.

"Hey Himura, you've been like that the whole afternoon. You've been staring blankly. Are you alright?" Misao told him, looking over her shoulder.

"Is it Soujiro?" Sanosuke, who was also beside him, asked. "You still worried about that kid?"

Kenshin answered. "Well, to tell you guys the truth, I can help myself to think about the Soujiro I met with Shishio and the one Sanosuke and the others encountered last night. There's just something…"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing!" he smiled at them. "I guess I'm just happy for him. I just couldn't help thinking about things."

When they reached the inn, Kenshin allowed Kaoru, Misao and Yahiko to go ahead of them in the staircase until they were out of earshot.

"Now tell me what's really up," Sanosuke said behind Kenshin, who answered without hesitation this time.

"I can sense something is going to happen."

It was cold that night in the mountain area. Soujiro managed to start a campfire for himself and his companion. He also prepared their dinner, catching two medium-sized fishes from the river, and heating water for them to drink. They warmed themselves by the campfire as the night went deeper.

"It's prepared," Soujiro said, handing the cooked to the girl.

"Thank you very much," she said. "You've been a great help to me. But since I still can't recover my memory, is it alright if I tag along with you for a while?"

Soujiro faked reheating his fish, staring into the fire.

"Alright," he answered, looking across the fire, where the girl sat. "But I have to warn you, I might be a dangerous person. I'm a fugitive."

The girl stopped chewing her food and looked at Soujiro, who smiled back.

"Oh, that's alright. You're the only person I know right now, so I won't have anything to lose." And with that, she returned his smile.

Soujiro stared at the fire uneasily. "So you still don't remember anything? That's strange."

She shrugged. "I wonder how I can get my memory back. Well, one thing's for sure; at least I can remember you even after I get back my memory."

He didn't answer. She swallowed her food, as if she hasn't eaten in days.

"By the way," she said, putting down her unfinished food. "Thank you for helping me. It's not a usual act of a passer-by to help someone who was covered in blood."

Soujiro looked up smiling, and scratched his head thoughtfully, unsure of what to respond.

"Oh… well… uhm… it's alright I guess."

As Soujiro leaned on a tree that night to dose himself to sleep, he couldn't help but to think about the events that would come at the expense of a companion. She may stick around, but only for a while. But then, if she doesn't regain her memory, will she ever go away? If she finds out about his reputation, will she be frightened? The Meiji government was still after him; he was still at large. But thoughts bothering him even more was the girl's past – why was she stabbed. Soujiro was sure that she was the girl he saw the previous night entertaining Kenshin Himura and his comrades. He didn't tell her this yet. But perhaps, tomorrow, he will…

Senkaku was running wildly. His feet were moving frantically. Soujiro could sense the fear from him – the fear of being punished in his defeat to Kenshin Himura. Soujiro knew this man was to die. After all, the world serves no place for the weak. They were only food for the strong. Senkaku ran and ran, his sweat trickling down his brow. He headed towards a river and sat there, panting. And without warning, blood gushed out from his head.

"Soujiro… hey, Soujiro…"

Soujiro opened his weary eyes and saw only darkness. He looked up and saw two bright green eyes staring at him from the dark. He scratched his eyes.

"What is it?"

"I have to pee."

He looked up. "Pee? Just take a hole there behind the trees. No one will see you. I won't look at you."

The girl hesitated. The forest was very dark. A deep sheet of fog covered every light in the heavens.

"Couldn't you accompany me?"

He scratched his eyes again. 'You've got to be kidding me,' he thought.

"I really have to go."

"You seem a lot more energetic now after we've eaten," he said, tightening his shoelace, a habit of his.

"Yes. I feel quite better. You've treated my wounds well. But I really got to go."

"Alright, alright," he said, straightening up and leading her into the forest.

Soujiro hid behind a tree, staring into the darkness as the girl went a little farther. A thought suddenly came to him.

"I think I know who you are," he said through the pitch-black. "I should've told you this afternoon. You were a dancer in an inn. I saw you a night ago." He recalled the yellow light and the fire.

"Would you want me to take you back in the village?" he asked. There was no answer.

"Are you done yet?" he said, looking over his shoulder.

"No!" she hissed, making him look away quickly. After a while, she was done. "But that village, where is it?"

Soujiro looked at her shadowed figure, as he felt her approaching.

"I'd like to go there."

"Alright, I'll drop you off there then."

She was taken aback by this. "You're leaving me there? Am I already a burden to you? I'll never pee in the middle of the night again, I promise."

"No, It's nothing like that, but you should've peed earlier," Soujiro smiled in the darkness. "It's just complicated."


	8. A Reunion

Soujiro and his companion made their way back to the village early in the morning after they have eaten breakfast. Although still very weak with her wound, the girl was able to walk along Soujiro as they made their way from the mountains. Soujiro, on the other hand was able to find the fastest way to the village, while the girl silently tagged alongside him. It was for the first time in his journey that someone joined him. He had to admit; he liked the company.

"Hey," the girl spoke for the first time. "Are we almost there?"

Soujiro nodded and pointed across the path – the huddled roofs of houses in the village were almost visible enough.

"We'll be there in no time."

Kenshin and the group bowed to the innkeeper.

"Thank you very much for your services," Kaoru said, straightening up. "We'll be on our way now."

"We thank you as well, honoured guests. We hope that you have enjoyed your stay."

"I had a great time," Misao said, stretching her thin arms and yawning. "I hope Jiya and the others are alright back home."

"It sounds like you're beginning to get a little homesick, Misao," Kaoru said as they made their way outside of the inn.

"It's on the road again, huh?" Yahiko said. "I wish we could've stayed for lunch. I still feel unexercised."

"Don't you worry, Yahiko. Once we go back home, I'll be opening the dojo immediately. We'll be training double-time!"

Yahiko, who doesn't seem to be happy about this, shrugged. "Give me a break, you ugly woman."

"What did you say?!"

Kenshin stopped to his tracks and turned on his heel. "Sano," he called with urgency, making everyone stop and look at the direction of his sight.

Among the number of busy people going about their businesses, a young man with lush dark hair and a faint smile on his face, wearing a blue kimono was approaching their direction. Kenshin, Sanosuke, Misao and Yahiko – those who have seen him in person recognized him immediately. Alongside him was the dancer who entertained them the previous night.

"What is it, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked. She was the only one who has not seen the young man in person.

"It's Soujiro Seta. Shishio's former right-hand man."

Soujiro saw the inn that he has seen the girl dancing at two nights ago while hiding in view. Across it, he felt a heavy range of stares at his direction. They were not easy to miss-out: Kenshin Himura and his comrades were looking at him. He caught their stares, not knowing what he should do. He smiled vividly at them, making sure that they saw it, and then grabbed his companion's wrist and entered the inn without a word or another glance.

Sanosuke started, "What do you think we should do, Kenshin?"

Kenshin stared at the inn that the two have entered. "Practically nothing," he replied, looking back at Sanosuke and smiling. "He doesn't seem to be causing any trouble, so I don't think that we should disturb him in his doing. It's best that we should just go home."

"I guess you're right."

"But I think I would like to greet him just for a while," he said abruptly and before the others could stop him, Kenshin headed for the inn.

He saw the young man and the girl standing inside the room, as if waiting for the walls to close in them.

"Well?" Soujiro asked his companion. "Doesn't the place bring any memories?"

She considered the place, her eyes darting from the ceiling to the walls and the tables.

"No," she replied, her head bowing in hopelessness. "I'm sorry. I couldn't remember anything."

But before he could say anything else, Soujiro felt the heavy stares yet again. He knew exactly who they belonged to. Looking behind him, he saw the legendary Battousai the Manslayer – the only man to have defeated him in battle… and cracked his brains – standing by the entrance.

Kenshin looked directly in his eyes and smiled. "Hello, Soujiro, we meet again."

Not knowing what to reply, he scratched his head thoughtfully and replied, "Yeah. I guess."

His companion looked at Kenshin. "Who is he?" she asked with curiosity.

But Soujiro wasn't able to reply immediately, upon seeing the man's comrades appear behind the latter and look at him as well. The girl's eyes travelled from Soujiro to the group that appeared, sensing something odd.

"Oh, I'm sorry," smiling at his companion. "This is Kenshin Himura and the group behind him are his comrades."

Sanosuke peeked at the girl. "Hey isn't that the entertainer? Why is she with him?"

"I think it's best if I leave you with them," he told the girl, who was taken aback.

"What? But I don't even know them. No, I want to stay with you. You're the only person I know."

He blinked at her upon hearing those words. "You sure say strange things."

He turned to Kenshin, smiling as if they have not met in battle. "Mr. Himura," he said. "I was wondering whether I could have a word with you. Well, it's not really just a word. It's more like a favour."

"A favour?" Kenshin asked curiously.

The girl slowly looked from Soujiro to Kenshin worriedly, knowing what Soujiro had in mind.


	9. Keichi Akihiro

Soujiro did not look back as he made his way through the busy crowd. He knows that the girl was disappointed with him, but it was just for the best. The afternoon was approaching with tremendous heat that he thought of changing directions. He was not going to cross the mountains in the same way that he has done before. It just does not feel the same way. An impossible thought occurred to him – he wondered what happened to the house of his stepfamily – the one where he had his first taste of blood. A heavy feeling sank into him, draining him of all happiness in the world as if it was not enough that he has lived his life miserably. But he needed to know… he could no longer ignore his inner self, his conscience. He needed to go back where it all started. And with that, he headed for his hometown.

"That dumb-ass," Saya said, looking at Soujiro's direction across the road. Kenshin and the others stood behind her. They have not spoken to her since Soujiro left. Soujiro, on the other hand, was the only person who talked to them before leaving.

"I should be going," he had told them. "I can't take her with me. Is it alright if I just drop her off with you?"

Kenshin hesitated, but after a while, he nodded in approval without saying a word to the young man, who bowed respectfully in return as if Kenshin has never been an enemy.

"That dumb-ass," Saya repeated. "He's such a jerk for dropping me here when I can't remember anything!"

"Uhm, If you don't mind me asking," Kaoru said carefully, approaching her. "What's your name?"

The girl, who had her back against them, did not respond.

"Don't you remember, Kaoru? " Yahiko said. "She's the girl who dances here in this inn… We saw her last night."

The girl looked over her shoulder.

"You know who I am?" she asked Yahiko. "Please… tell me who I am… I don't remember anything!"

Sanosuke whistled in amazement. "So is this amnesia? What exactly happened to you, miss?"

"You dumbass," Yahiko told Sanosuke. "She said she could not remember anything. Why don't you look up the word 'amnesia' in a book and read about it?"

"What did you just say?" Sanosuke contorted.

"Well, if you can't remember anything…" Kaoru told the girl. "Maybe this place might bring back your memory."

The girl scanned the name of the inn – Tenshin House… it did not remind her of anything. Without talking to any of them, she re-entered the place and quietly examined it. Suddenly, a woman came out from the employees' quarters.

"Excuse me," Saya said, striding forward. "Do you happen to know me"

The woman, with an unusual cold air about her, looked at Saya from head to foot bluntly, said, "No."

Saya blinked. "But I thought…"

"Doesn't this young woman work here?" Kenshin, who came behind Saya, asked the woman. "We saw her dance here the other night."

"Perhaps," the woman answered. "Perhaps not."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't' know anyone who looks like her. Now go on before we call the police."

"That's odd," Misao said, joining the conversation. "Why do you want to get rid of this girl?"

"Get rid of her?" the woman asked coldly. "We don't want to get into any trouble with her. She attempted to stab a customer!"

Saya looked from the woman to Kenshin and to Misao, her amber eyes wide with confusion.

"I have never – attempted such a thing!"

The woman turned to her. "Oh really," she said coldly. "You better get the hell out of here before we call the police. Besides, we don't want anyone like you here – someone who attempted to kill… You are a disgrace! This House disowns you!"

The entrance door of Tenshi House banged in front of Saya's face, killing the last traces of hope in the young woman's memory. Kenshin and the group could do nothing but stare behind her. There was a nervous silence for a while until Kaoru broke it.

"Uhm, miss…" Kaoru started. "Are you alright? You can always come with us if you have no one else right now."

Yahiko nudged Kaoru's elbow. "But Kaoru she could be trouble. Didn't you hear? She almost killed someone."

But Kaoru insisted. "Oh what the heck, Yahiko. Haven't you learned anything from all our training? The Kasshin style deems to protect and preserve all life. It does not choose its benefactor."

She turned to Saya, who stood frozen, starring at the closed door.

"Please, miss, come with us. We could be of help to you."

Saya stood still as if considering and, after a while, turned to face them. The afternoon sun blazed on her dark hair. "But you people don't know me, in the same way that I don't know myself."

Misao suddenly made a gesture of compassion and irritability. "Curse that Seta –boy for leaving you this way! He has no heart at all!"

But Saya raised a hand to disagree. "It was he who healed my wound and took care of me the night before. I could be a burden to him that's why he left me, but either way, he saved my life."

"You were stabbed?" Yahiko asked. She nodded in approval.

"Soujiro saving lives now, eh?" Sanosuke said, elbowing Kenshin. "I guess that fight with you made him a completely different person."

"Wait," Saya blurted. "Seta-boy? Do you happen to know who that young man is?"

The group hesitated for a while, and then it was Kenshin who spoke this time.

"We do, as a matter of fact. Anyway, Miss Kaoru's right. It's better if you would join us for a while until your memory returns. You said you were stabbed, right? If you can't remember how that happened, it's alright. We also have a lady doctor for a friend back in Tokyo who could take a look at your wound."

The others did not say anything, but from the warmth of their smiles, Saya could tell that she was most welcome as their companion. Lost for words, she merely bowed lowly to them in appreciation and said, "I… don't know how to thank you…"

Suddenly, a different noise disturbed the moment – it was the sound of a carriage approaching their way.

Saya, Kenshin and the others rounded at the carriage's direction. It was an elegant-looking black carriage accompanied by the city police on both sides. Whoever the rider inside was, he or she seems to be a very important person.

Sanosuke whistled in amazement. "Sweet… this guy must be worth a lot…"

The carriage stopped in front of them. The door opened. A sturdy man in his middle old age climbed out of the elegant vehicle. He was very tall with graying dark brown hair and chunky eyes which seems to have some cold stare about it. He wore a brown American suit and had the air of someone who held a high position in the current Meiji government. This man's name was Keichi Akihiro, a former supporter of the Shogunate during the To Ku Gawa Era who now held a high ranking office in the Meiji government. At first, he paused to stare at the sign of Tenshi House, and then his eyes darted to the group of people in front of him. He coldly examined every face until he recognized one of them.

"You!" he exclaimed, finding Saya's face among them. Without any further statement, he strode over to the girl, grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her onto him. Saya was taken aback and tried to fight off his grip. But the man was just too strong.

"I'll have you arrested, you little bitch!" he shouted madly at her, his eyes bulging with contempt as if he hated nothing else in the world. "Do you have any idea how much I paid for you?"

He pulled her harder towards himself. An arm suddenly rested on Keichi's broad shoulders. The former Shogunate supporter looked behind him and saw a tall young man with incredibly spiky hair with a red sash tied around his head.

"I don't know what's going on here," Sanosuke said. "But it's not fair for someone to pick on a person who's weaker than he is."

"Mind your business," Keichi spat.

"Stop it! Let me go!" Saya recoiled.

"Didn't you hear?" Sanosuke snared. "She said let her go!"

And without any further word, Sanosuke's fist banged at Keichi's jaw, making the latter fall to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Sanosuke asked Saya, who nodded, massaging her wrist.

"What's happening? What's all this?" a woman's voice cried.

The door of Tenshi House opened all of a sudden. The woman, whom they have spoken to, appeared in view. When she saw Keichi Akihiro sprawled to the ground, she lost all poise and frantically ran towards him.

"Akihiro-san!" she cried, kneeling before the man and helping him to his feet. "Are you alright?"

But to the surprise of Kenshin and the others, Keichi, after straightening up, hit the woman to the ground with great anger. The woman of Tenshi House panted, while massaging her face, where the man had hit her.

"This is not the way I should be treated!" Keichi spat at the woman. "Do you have any idea of the money that this House owes me, woman? This House should pay me in full the money that I've paid for this girl, otherwise, you should consider moving out!"

The woman looked up at the man with tears in her eyes. "Oh no, Akihiro-san. Please! Let's talk this over - " she bowed at the height of Keichi's leg. "Please forgive us."

Keichi spat. "You have a month to recover my losses, or else, start packing."

"If you don't mind me cutting in," Kenshin said, almost in a polite manner. "But I think I know what's going on here."

Keichi rounded at the red-haired man. "And who might you be?"

"Oh, I'm just Kenshin Himura the wanderer," he replied, smiling. "I might say - both of you are at fault. First, it's against the law to sell a young girl, and at the same time, it's also against the law to buy a young girl. Besides, don't you think it's also cruel to do so? Prostitution is not something that the government encourages. And you, sir," - he rounded at Keichi " - I believe, is a high ranking government official."

The man looked at Kenshin with great comtempt. Fists clenched, he rounded back at the woman. "You have a month. Pay me back in full, or lose your business."

He looked directly at Saya, who was still massaging her wrist. "I do not want things laid out before me, and then taken away."

And with that, he climbed back the high-class carriage and left, leaving an awkward eerie among the people who watched him leave.

"What did he mean, exactly, miss of the Tenshi House?" Misao asked the woman, who stood staring at the ground. "Did you sell the dancer to that man? Isn'y that illegal?"

The woman spat at the ground at turned to the group, her eyes bored hardly at Saya. "What do you know, you meddling people? Why don't you just mind your own business? I hold you people responsible for the loss this House. People who work here will be losing their livelihood because of your interference. I hold you all responsible - " she pointed a long finger at Saya " - especially you!"

And without saying another word to them, the woman reentered the House, closing the door at their faces.


	10. Impossible Thoughts

Three days have passed since Soujiro encountered a village in his journey. He was now headed to his hometown. His feet directed him to the place that he would most avoid in the world – his stepfamily's house, where everything began. He hated this place more than anything else in the world, for it brings back memories that he tried to bury in his life, and yet, he was headed towards its direction, wondering what happened to it – if there were already new occupants, or if it was still there. He predicted that he would be there in a day or two, as he descended the mountain steeps. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was slowly hiding from view yet again, the mark of another day's journey that was ending with the blood-red sky. From afar, Soujiro could see another village appearing into view. It was a small and scanty-looking village.

"Looking for a place to stay, my good young man?" a plump woman along the streets greeted, as Soujiro made his way to the village. "We have a very low price for pilgrims and travellers..." She continued talking to Soujiro for at least five minutes, endorsing everything in their inn and convincing him to stay for at least a night.

"I'm terribly, sorry," Soujiro said, smiling at her. "But I have no plans of staying in this village. I'm really in a rush, you see."

The smile on the plump woman's face faded, as she stopped following him. "Broke runt," she whispered behind Soujiro as she let him pass. There was no point in trying to convince a potential customer who was broke. Soujiro heard the remark, but chose to ignore it - it was half true, after all - he was broke.

"Have you heard of that famous inn in the village nearby, Tenshi House? It's about to be shut down," Soujiro heard from behind him, making him stop to his tracks and look over his shoulder. The plump woman was talking to a man at another inn nearby.

"I read it in the papers this afternoon," she told her companion. "It was a shame. A high-ranking government official accused them of attempted murder or theft or something. Of coarse, for an accusation such as those from a high-ranking government official can bring about the shutting-down of any place, even if it was a geisha house."

"But this is the Tenshi House," her companion replied, scratching his balding head. He was a man in his late fifties and yet with a toothy smile. "Words of the grandeur of that House travel to this village, saying that it is one of the most entertaining places in the history of Japan. It was very efficient for entertaining foreigners, not to mention that Umeko village was something that the Meiji government improves in the name of tourism."

"Well, the papers say that the House betrayed a contract with the government official, Akihiro, who was their customer at that time. Their most prized dancer, Saya Tenshi, tried to stab him during a conversation, I think."

"Saya Tenshi? What a shame. She's an incredibly good dancer. I heard that when she dances, flames respond to her every movement."

The word 'flame' reminded Soujiro of the young woman who has become his company for a short time. Her name was Saya Tenshi.

"And I heard that this Saya Tenshi is in the threat of being imprisoned because of the attempted murder case. She also owes a lot of money. I wonder how she can earn that much money..."

"Poor girl," the plump woman said. "They didn't even get the statement from the side of the Tenshi House. All this accusation seems to favor that government official."

"Seems to point-out that this government's rotten, eh?"

"I guess."

Soujiro remembered the day that he has seen Saya Tenshi's unconscious body, limping on the river. He recalled the smell of her blood as he tended her wound. Attempted murder? It was she who was stabbed nearly to death and not remember anything. How can she be capable of attempting to kill someone? Soujiro hesitated for a while, but then finally found his feet and continued crossing the village, his head swimming in the memory of Saya dancing the night away in the manner that he has seen her that fateful night.

The campfire crackled in front of him. It was a very warm feeling for a cold night as Soujiro rested his tired traveling body on a sturdy tree trunk. He was very used to this kind of life nowadays, spending the night outdoors. He was miles away from the village now and has entered a forest before the sun has completely sunk. There was nothing visible in the forest this night, as the moon was nothing more than a crescent smile. He gave out a yawn and stretched his tired arms and legs.

"What a day," he said out loud. "I'm quite tired that I don't feel like having dinner anymore."

He stared at the pitch black view in front of him.

'I won't pee in the middle of the night again, I promise,' Saya's voice resounded in his memory, as he recalled the night when she asked him to accompany her through the forest for a midnight pee.

The fire crackled in front of him. He watched as the flames danced on the burning firewood until sleep drowned him into an unusual peace.

_The cold drops of rain soaked Soujiro as he stood under the darkened heavens with no proper garments on - a tattered kimono was all he wore. There were no shoes to protect his numb feet from the damp ground. The katana in his hand made a ground a crimson pool, drenching the ground from where he stood with blood. On his feet lay dead bodies of people, whose faces were all to familiar to him. They were the faces of people who made his everyday life a living hell. The scars and bruises on his little body reminded him of how hard it was to be an illegitimate member of a family. A door creaked open from behind. A tall man, whose body was heavily bandaged, came into view. _

_"Boy," he said, referring to Soujiro. "Are you crying?"_

_Young Soujiro looked up at the heavens, making raindrops fall to his face and clear it of tears that he will be denying for ten years. When his tears were already confused with raindrops, he then faced the heavily-bandaged man, smiling._

_"No," he answered in an almost playful manner._

He awoke. It has been years since he dreamed of this faraway childhood memory, something which he thinks has implanted irrevocable consequences. Soujiro at the tree trunk, recalling the vision as he vividly remembered it. But then, an impossible thought occurred to him - one that is ironically unconnected to his dream - he had to help his short-lived companion, Saya Tenshi. Something in his heart, as part of his atonement, pulled him towards helping this young woman who treated him, for the first time in his life, not as an opponent in battle or a lifetime servant but an ordinary human being. And for a person in his disposition, this meant greatly. He owed her. It was time to return the favor.

Miles and miles away, the young woman named Saya Tenshi awoke. It has been three days since she has taken refuge in the Kamiya Dojo with her new companions and still, she finds it hard to sleep. She bolted upright, irritated in her own inability to find booze. She slid open the door and made the pale moon gleam inside the room that was originally occupied by Kenshin Himura, who had kindly insisted that he sleep outside in the meantime that she was in the Dojo. The moon, she saw, was nothing but a crescent smile. Staring at it, she had an awkward feeling - one that makes a person uneasy for reasons that he or she does not know. It was like being stared at. Elderly folks would say that this feeling occurs when someone is thinking of a person. A strange connection goes between the two of them, making the person sense that someone out there, any where in the world, is thinking of him or her deeply. Saya wondered if it was true. But then, the idea was crushed in her, as she thought that no one out there cared for, or even knew, her. She doubted if someone was thinking about her. It was, for the most part, an impossible thought.


End file.
